Airwomen rewrite history in night sky

Corporal T N D Hewagamage and Aircraftswoman K H N Ranasinghe of the
Sri Lanka Air Force rewrote history by becoming the first women in South
Asia to successfully complete night skydiving on October 19.

The two parachutists displayed their skills on Tuesday night at the
Sri Lanka Airfoce Station, Amapara. Both women completed the dives as
part of the 5th Basic Sky Diving Course.

This batch consisted of eight members with six male and two female
paratroopers.

Female paratroopers have achieved a line of rapid successes since
their foray into parachuting just a few years back.

Ranasinghe was among the pair who became the first women in South
Asia to complete 200 parachute jumps in July. Meanwhile, SLAF Parachute
Training School Commanding Officer Wing Commander Harischandra Herath
also achieved another feat last week by completing 50 jumps of Night
Skydiving.

The country will continue to see the SLAF paratroopers excel in their
trade as early as next week, when on October 28 a batch of 35 males and
five female paratroopers who completed their Basic Parachute Course have
their passing-out parade.